Function:

If you're in the market for a new laser mouse and you're looking for something a bit customizable, the G9X offers a good bit of flexibility in a traditional mouse design. If you also happen to be a fan of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, so much the better, as both of the grips feature the Call of Duty: MW3 branding and the mouse includes a Call of Duty: MW3 licensed rubber-backed cloth mouse pad.

Performance:

The G9X for Call of Duty: MW3 is a nice bit of officially licensed MW3 hardware, but the G9X is a nice mouse, with or without the license. There are several ways to tweak the G9X to suit your needs, from two interchangeable grips to a modular weight system to allow you bulk up your mouse if you find the G9X's stock weight to be a bit light for your liking.

The two grips are called "Performance" and "Wide Load." Performance is thinner and has a very thin ridge for a thumb support and features a somewhat rough grip to help your fingers stick in place during the action of frantic gaming sessions. The Wide Load is more built for comfort, with a wider thumb support, a little wider body in the palm area and a smooth, rubberized satin finish. Since it's wider on the left side, the Wide Load grip features an extra Teflon pad on the bottom, to help keep the G9X sliding smoothly. Personally, I found that when playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, I preferred the Precision Grip, since the textured grip helps to prevent any accidental slippage of the mouse, but I also found that I liked 18g of weight added, as well.

The G9X features a "Microgear" precision dual-mode scroll wheel mechanism, which works well in your choice of free-scrolling or incremental mode. However, the button to swap modes is located on the bottom of the mouse, and while it makes it nearly impossible to accidentally change the mode, it also makes it impossible to rapidly swap back and forth between these two modes while in a game. If you have a preference of one way or the other in the games you play, this is fine. If you find that you often want to switch between free scrolling and geared, however, this won't be possible with the G9X.

The G9X's buttons are programmable, and you can save up to five different profiles in the mouse. To customize the profiles, you'll need to install software from Logitech, but once the G9x has been programmed, you can take it with you to another machine and use its internally stored profiles without having to install any software on the new computer. This is a handy feature for gamers who like to customize their mouse for games, but who may play from time to time on a public computer, at a friend's house or in other situations where you can't (or shouldn't) install software on the machine.

And, although it's primarily a "bling" thing, as opposed to a functional customization, you can customize the indicator LEDs on the G9X, selecting from 204 different possible values.

Features:

Call of Duty: MW3 Themed and Branded

On-The-Fly DPI Sensitivity Adjustment (200 - 5700 DPI)

Full Speed USB (Up to 1000 Reports Per Second)

Onboard Memory Stores Up To 5 Game Profiles

Weight Tuning System To Adjust Feel (28 grams)

Custom Color LED DPI Display

Microgear Precision Dual Mode Scroll Wheel

Two Interchangeable Grips: Precision and Wide Load

Includes Call of Duty MW3 Themed Mousepad

Drawbacks & Problems::

I have one minor gripe about the LED customization on the G9X for MW3, and that's that it doesn't have a color setting that looks really close to the green on the Call of Duty: MW3 G105 gaming keyboard. The closest I see is a pure green (0,255,0), but that's brighter than the brightest green that the G105 can put out. The color looks about right, but LEDs on the G9X are brighter. Like I said; it's not a huge thing, but it seems like special concessions would have been made to allow these two products to really complement each other.

I like programmability in my gaming hardware, but I also like the ability to change things on the fly. The G9X has a nice scroll wheel, but the fact that I have to turn the mouse over to swap modes is a detractor for me. I also find that when I try this, I end up hitting one or both of the buttons above the thumb, so it's not really the kind of thing I'd want to even swap out when I change weapons or even in between lives. The same can be said of switching modes. It's not overly difficult to do, but it requires me to pick up the mouse, find and hold a button on the bottom of the mouse, then use the + and - buttons over the LED indicator to select my desired profile. It's not difficult, like setting an alarm clock, but it's certainly not something I would ever try to do in the middle of a match.

If you're the kind of player who not only wants to be able to create custom profiles, but wants to be able to switch between them rapidly while in a game, the G9X might not be the best fit for you. However, if you're the kind that wants to get your mouse set up just so and then keep it the same way for that particular game, then the G9X might be just what you've been looking for.